Earlier this month I made a tentative plan to spend the rest of the year trying to read books I already have — review copies or bought copies — and limit books from the library to try and make a dent on the piles and piles of books that are starting to weigh on me.
Of course, I wasn’t going to pull myself off the lists of holds I’m on at the library, which foiled my plans: Both The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides and The Magician King by Lev Grossman arrived for me on Tuesday. Curses, effective library system! (I kid, I kid!).
Of course, I dropped all my other reading plans to start those, since I haven’t figured out my library’s renewal policy exactly and would be deeply sad if I had to send them back. I finished The Marriage Plot yesterday — mini review: I loved the beginning, thought it got a little meandering through the middle, but unexpectedly loved the ending — and immediately wanted to start The Magician King.
However, I got about 10 pages in and realized I couldn’t remember anything about The Magicians, Grossman’s first book in the series that I read last year, except that it was like Harry Potter but darker. It was like there was this gaping hole in my brain where a summary of The Magicians should go. I even went online to try and find some clues, but it seems that the Interwebz is entirely devoid of a comprehensive plot summary of The Magicians. How is that possible?
Anyway… I decided I couldn’t read The Magician King without refreshing my memory. It just wasn’t going to be satisfying, and I am over-the-moon excited about this book. If I lived in a town with a bookstore, I would have gone out and bought a copy immediately. Luckily, my small local library came through in a big way again because they had a copy of The Magicians in stock and on the shelves!
I had to brave our first winter snowstorm yesterday to go cover a story anyway, so I made a detour to the library first to pick up the book. I got home from working at about 6 p.m., ate dinner, and settled in with the book for the evening at about 7 p.m. I don’t know what got into me, but I read that book amazingly fast. I’ve only got about 50 pages left in a 400 page to finish this morning! I read fast, but not normally that fast.
I’m not much of a re-reader, so this particular super speed-reading experience was novel. It made me curious whether it’s possible to read faster when we’re re-reading because there’s a subconscious familiarity with the the book? Or, whether the fact that I’m mostly re-reading The Magicians as a plot refresher rather than diving into it for the first time meant I was reading less deeply and therefore more quickly? Has anyone else had this experience? Thoughts?
Comments on this entry are closed.
I definitely feel like I read much faster when I am re reading. I am glad you were able to track down a copy of The Magicians so quickly–I often have problems with remembering books in a series!
I was really glad I could grab a copy too — I was so worried the library wouldn’t have one in stock. My new library rocks.
I re-read very little, but it makes sense to me that it would go faster. I can’t imagine snow already!
Well, here in Minnesota it wasn’t too much of a surprise… although still unpleasant. Thankfully, since I wrote this post its warmed up and the snow is gone, yay!
Like Kathy, I don’t retread often but it makes a lot of sense that it would go faster. You already know most of the main events and, if you’re reading it as a refresher, you only really need the gist of things, not the details. I still haven’t read The Magicians, is it worth me hunting down a copy?
I liked The Magicians quite a bit, but I know other people who weren’t as thrilled with it. That said, The Magician King (which I finished over Thanksgiving) was an absolutely stellar book. Just brilliant. I’d read The Magicians if only to be able to read The Magician King.
Rereading often goes faster for me. I think it’s mostly because I remember enough that I can read straight through without ever paging back to double-check on things that I missed. Also, on a second read, I know what bits are skimable, although I often slow down for favorite parts or parts that deal with details never quite wrapped my head around.
That’s a good point about why it might be faster. I did skim a bit over parts I remembered quite clearly too.
Re-reading goes faster for me too. I mostly just re-read my favorite author (Georgette Heyer) and I find that I can read almost twice as fast as normal if I’m reading one that I’ve read before 2 or 3 times over the years.
Oh and I can’t believe snow already either! It’s 74 here today… 🙂
This makes me wonder how fast I would be able to re-read Harry Potter, especially the first ones that I’ve read many times.
This is why I’ve never read the last Harry Potter book. Because I have a terrible memory, and I don’t want to re-read the first 6 books!
And I can’t remember much from The Magicians, either. I do remember thinking it was too Narnia-like and I wasn’t much interested in book 2. Luckily, I’ll have you to tell me if I made the right decision. 😀
That’s a perfect excuse to re-read the first HP six books! I bet you can find really good summaries on the Internet that would work too.
I thought Magicians 2.0 was totally awesome. I was giddy when I finished it. There’s still a lot of similarities to other fantasy types, but it’s much more sophisticated and interesting.
Every once in a while, a book from my library spoils my reading plans too! Why do my library books seem to sound so much better than the books I am reading?
Isn’t that the truth? I’m a sucker for new and shiny library books.
I re-read very rarely… I really want to read The Magicians one of these days. I can see it sitting on my TBR shelf from here. It would help if I was reading much of anything lately!
My reading in November was much faster than normal, so that was a big plus in being able to make some time to re-read.
I definitely think I read a book faster when I’m reading it again. Probably because I remember bits of when I read it the first time, and so I’m “skimming” more?
Anyway, I hope you enjoy The Magician King!
Yeah, I think that’s a big part of it. I must have skimmed a lot of the beginning of the book since that’s less interesting than the end.
Like others have said, I imagine it’s because you remember more of the book and are skimming more of it. I find that, for really memorable books, my brain begins to fill in the ending as I’m rereading to the point that rereading a book isn’t as enjoyable as it was the first time around.
Mmhmmn, yes, I should have thought of that! Bummer about it not being as enjoyable, that’s sad. I could not remember any relevant details in The Magicians, so the ending was still mostly a surprise.
Chiming in, yes, I reread faster because I skim more. It is going to be so worth it–I’m not the only person who liked The Magicians and then loved The Magician King!
A lot of people have had that reaction, me included. The Magician King was SO GOOD! Sooooo good. I don’t even have words yet.
I think I’m the opposite of everyone who’s left a comment. When I re-read, I read slower. I think it’s just in case I missed anything the first time. Plus I’m more likely to take extensive notes the second time around.
Huh, interesting! Why do you take more notes the second time around? On the couple of re-reads I’ve done this year, I haven’t taken any notes because I don’t really plan to review them, I think.